The Birth of Saturn's Rings
Saturn's rings may be only 100 million years old — younger than most dinosaurs. Research suggests they formed from a two-stage catastrophe. First, ~400 million years ago, a moon called Proto-Hyperion collided with Titan after orbital migration destabilized the outer system. This excited Titan's orbit, which then destabilized the inner moons through resonance cascades. A second collision ~100 million years ago scattered debris inside Saturn's Roche limit — where tidal forces prevent reassembly into moons. The debris spread into rings instead.
Ćuk, El Moutamid, Fuller & Lainey — Planetary Science Journal, 2026
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